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Pillar of Time
Mythology article |image=SR2-Pillars-Symbols-Time.png |caption=The Pillar of Time in Soul Reaver 2. |introduced= Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996) |appearances= Blood Omen Soul Reaver Soul Reaver 2 Blood Omen 2 Defiance ''Defiance'' comic}} The Pillar of Time is one of the nine Pillars of Nosgoth, and the third pillar from the east on the dais. Attuned to the property of Time, it was preserved for most of its existence by the Human Guardian Moebius, and was eventually sundered in the Collapse of the Pillars following his death. Its pillar token was Moebius's Hourglass. The Pillar appears throughout the entirety of the Legacy of Kain series. Profile As one of the Pillars of Nosgoth, the Pillar of Time appeared throughout the Legacy of Kain series, debuting in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The Pillar was present along with its peers in the [[Pillars of Nosgoth (Blood Omen)|Pillars of Nosgoth areas of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain]], ''Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver'', ''Soul Reaver 2'' and ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance'' and could be revisited in all titles after its initial appearance. The Pillar could also briefly be seen in the Blood Omen 2 introduction and was featured in illustrations in comics. Constructed in the period Before Nosgoth's recorded history, the Pillar of Time was served by Time Guardian Moebius for most of its existence and was corrupted in the [[History preceding Blood Omen|history preceding Blood Omen]] when Ariel was murdered by the Dark Entity. Upon finding her corpse, her lover - the Guardian of the Pillar of the Mind, Nupraptor - was driven mad by grief and unleashed a frenzy of mental energy, which drove all of his fellow Guardians insane and simultaneously corrupted their Pillars. The Pillar of Time was the sixth of the Pillars to be restored during Kain's initial quest. It was briefly returned to normal when Kain offered Moebius's Hourglass to it, following Kain's confrontation with Moebius. Some time later after the restoration of the other pillars, Kain chose to refuse the Sacrifice and triggered the Collapse of the Pillars. Now rotten to its core, the festering stump of the Pillar of Time was all that remained, alongside its eight counterparts. Lasting in this state into the late [[Events of Soul Reaver|events of Soul Reaver]] the pillar would be visited by Raziel in pursuit of his vendetta against Kain and he too would return to gather advice from Ariel. As Raziel and Kain traveled through time in Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance they would encounter the pillar several more times in different states in different eras - pristine in Nosgoth's early history and the [[History preceding Blood Omen|history preceding Blood Omen]]s, corrupted in the Pre-Blood Omen and [[Events of Blood Omen|events of Blood Omen]]s, and collapsed in the Blood Omen and [[Era following Blood Omen|Era following Blood Omen]]s. Ultimately it was revealed that the Pillar of Time - like its peers - was constructed by the Ancient vampires to bind the banishment of their enemies, the Hylden race, into the Demon Realm. It was originally guarded by an Ancient Vampire - the Original Time Guardian - and its creation marked the close of the Vampire-Hylden war. Notes *In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, the Pillar of Time was decorated with an hourglass motif (similar to the icon of Moebius's Hourglass or a rotated Slow time artifacts icon) set against a orange-mustard-colored background. In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, this was replaced with a simple orange-mustard-colored band. Further games have depicted the Pillar with a lighter toned mustard-colored band and the Time symbol, introduced in Soul Reaver 2 - itself somewhat evocative of a simplified hourglass. Explaining the changes, series art director Daniel Cabuco commented: "The symbol designs themselves from Blood Omen 1 were pretty craptastic wallpapers. I don't believe they served the intention of making the pillars look serious and powerful. So we designed symbols, just like we did for the clans, the runes, and everything else that was important. There's not that much of a story other than all of us looking at each other as we went over the original designs and saying 'Seriously?! We can't move forward with these as originals.. no way!'" Pillars of Nosgoth areas at DCabDesign (by Bazielim), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) One instance of what may be an alternative symbol is seen in Soul Reaver 2's Light Forge. *Though it does appear in the Vorgeschichte, the Pillar of Time cannot be seen in the ''Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'' comic, where only the the Pillar of Balance is seen. The Pillar can be seen in the ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance'' comic where its position and colored band allow it to be identified though its symbol appears somewhat simplified. *The Pillar of Time is unique in that it is the only pillar whose restoration in Blood Omen is not witnessed. Kain gives a monologue similar to his usual restoration speech upon Moebius's death, but by the time he returns to the Pillars the pillar of time already appears restored and no dialogue regarding the pillar is given, with the game instead moving on to the confrontation between Anarcrothe and Mortanius. *Like its peers, the Pillar of Time is seen underground in the Subterranean Pillars Chamber of Soul Reaver 2. Here it bears no identifying marks and only its position allows it to be pinpointed. *The Pillar of Time is one of three Pillars of Nosgoth that is given particular focus in the Blood Omen 2 introduction along with the Pillar of Nature and the Pillar of Energy. The reasoning for this view is ultimately unclear, though it may be related to the visuals of lightning and their link to the principles of Energy and Nature. Gallery BO1-Render-Pillar-Time.png|Pillar of Time (BO1) SR1-Pillars-Symbols-Time.png|Pillar of Time (SR1) SR2-Pillars-Symbols-Time.png|Pillar of Time (SR2) Defiance-Pillars-Symbols-Time.png|Pillar of Time (Defiance) BO2-Prologue-020.png|The Time Pillar (right) in the BO2 intro SR1-Intro-005.png|The Time Pillar (third from right) among others in the SR1 intro Texture-Mural-LightForge-PillarsRaised.png|A possible alternative Time symbol, among others (SR2). File:Defiance-Fankit-Symbol-Pillars-Time.png|The recurring symbol representing Time (Defiance). File:Defiance-Texture-VampireCitadel-PillarSymbol-Time.png|The recurring symbol representing Time (Defiance). Comic_002.jpg|Vorgeschichte Legacy of Kain - Defiance p07-08.jpg|Defiance comic See also *Pillars of Nosgoth (BO1/''SR1/''SR2/''Sub/''DEF) *Time *Time Guardian (Original Time Guardian/Moebius) *Moebius's Hourglass *Time Glyph *Time fragment *Time (Reaver) References Browse Category:Mythology Category:Mythology/Pillars Category:Browse Category:Blood Omen Category:Blood Omen 2 Category:Defiance Category:Soul Reaver Category:Soul Reaver 2